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December 8, 2006 > Sports > Men’s basketball heads into break with two straight wins

Men’s basketball heads into break with two straight wins

By Chris Pasich | Thresher staff

Senior guard Morris Almond turned in a memorable performance Wednesday, leading the men’s basketball team in scoring for the seventh time in eight games as the Owls pulled away from Lamar University to claim their second consecutive win. In addition, the seven three pointers he made tied him for second most in a single game in Rice history — Robert Crawford (Hanszen ‘98) had eight in a 1997 game against the University of Tulsa. With 36 points on 11-17 shooting from the field, Almond also played nearly the entirety of the 83-71 victory for the Owls, sitting out only three minutes.

The first victory was a sound 80-46 beating of the University of Texas-Permian Basin Saturday afternoon, and that plus the win over the Cardinals helped Rice pull its season record to an even .500 at 4-4.

The Owls have the next two weeks off for finals. They will face Prairie View A&M University on Dec. 20 and then have four more games before they head into Conference USA play against Tulane University Jan. 10. Prairie View is 1-6 on the season, their last game a 101-54 trouncing at the hands on the University of Houston Nov. 29. The victory over Lamar was only Rice’s second over a Division I-A team on the season — the first came over Colorado State University Nov. 15.

Almond credited Rice’s offensive schemes with helping him find open looks throughout the game.

“When we are getting up and down the floor … it’s hard [for the opponent] to double team,” Almond said. “I get most of my shots within the offense. It’s moving without the ball and catching and shooting it as soon as I get it.”

Senior point guard Lorenzo Williams saw his first action after missing three consecutive games due to injury, and he made an immediate impact, scoring 8 points and 4 assists in only 17 minutes of action off the bench. In addition, head coach Willis Wilson (Will Rice ‘82) often used a new lineup with both Williams and freshman point guard Chris Hagan on the floor at the same time. Their speed allowed the defense to get more pressure on the ball and force turnovers, and their ball-handling helped the offense run a little more smoothly. Williams and Almond also connected when both were in the game at the same time, as Williams was able to feed Almond for easy looks at various times throughout the night.

“When you have somebody as efficient as Morris, who shoots 60-70 percent in a game, you don’t have any problems giving him the ball,” Williams said. “Like I used to say at times last year, when he plays good, it makes me look good.”

The Owls stormed to an early 12-2 lead behind three quick three-pointers from Almond and sophomore guards Cory Pflieger and Rodney Foster. Rice’s first seven baskets were all three pointers, with the first basket inside the arc coming with just over five minutes left in the first half. However, the Owls shot only 32 percent from the field in the first half, allowing the Cardinals to crawl back to a mere three point deficit before halftime and even take the lead early in the second half.

But once Williams entered the game, the Owls regained offensive stability and defensive strength. Rice shot 64 percent in the second half and went inside more often and more successfully than in the first half. Williams and Hagan were more than a match for Lamar’s backcourt defense, and they gave the Rice offense easier and more frequent opportunities to score.

“With [Williams] and [Hagan] it changes the dimension dramatically,” Wilson said. “Now all of a sudden the pressure goes up defensively, the pace of the games quicken, [and] we’ve got a couple of guys that can penetrate and dish to guys.”

Hagan scored 10 points on the night to go along with 6 assists. Senior center Greg Killings chipped in with 11 points and seven rebounds in only 19 minutes of action, and both he and junior forward Patrick Britton had three blocks.

The victory over Lamar comes on the heels of a solid performance against Texas-Permian Basin — a Divison II school in the Heartland Conference — in which Rice won by 34 points. The Owls outscored the Falcons by 16 points in the first half and 18 in the second half, marking one of their more consistent efforts on the season. Almond led the Owls with 29 points on 11-17 shooting, including 4-4 from three-point range.

Wilson said Almond demonstrates the consistency on which the team needs to focus.

“The thing that’s noticeable is that Morris Almond has been very good and very consistent, but that’s what you expect out of seniors,” Wilson said. “We have some other guys that haven’t logged the kind of minutes that he has that we need to develop consistency, and that’s the main thing we’re trying to get out of this month.”

Hagan, starting his fifth game on the season, had 12 points and eight assists. He was the team’s vocal leader, a role he considers his ultimate responsibility.

“The team feeds off my energy,” Hagan said. “If I’m out there and I don’t have any energy and I’m lollygagging around, nobody’s really intense. But if they see me get hyped, they see me start screaming, they see me getting up and playing hard defense, then it makes them want to go.”

Britton also had a solid performance, nearly posting a double-double with 9 points and 10 rebounds. The performance on the boards was a solid team effort, as the Owls out-rebounded the Falcons 38-27.

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